Cuomo launches commission to investigate response to Sandy

Nov. 13, 2012

Written by

Jessica Bakeman

Albany Bureau

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced he will form a powerful, subpoena-wielding commission to investigate utility companies’ response to Superstorm Sandy and other recent major storms.

Cuomo signed an executive order creating an investigatory panel under the state’s Moreland Act, a little-used, 105-year-old law that allows the governor to probe nearly any state entity. It will review New York’s power delivery companies’ preparation for and response to emergencies as well as their management structures.

“I believe the silver lining on this storm (Sandy) can be that the Legislature understands we need to seriously overhaul the energy regulatory and power distribution in this state,” Cuomo said Tuesday afternoon at a news conference in Manhattan. “It is a massive undertaking. It’s going to be very disruptive; I understand that. But I don’t think we have a choice.”

The governor said he will work with the Legislature early next year to assess the commission’s recommendations.

“Let’s make the changes we need to make, and let’s do it while we are still in the moment,” he said.

The commission will also examine overlapping responsibilities of the New York Power Authority, the Long Island Power Authority, the state Energy Research and Development Authority and the Public Service Commission.

“As evidenced by Hurricane Sandy, the existing labyrinth of regulatory bodies, state agencies and authorities, and quasi-governmental bodies has contributed to a dysfunctional utility system,” the governor’s office said in a news release.

Cuomo has said repeatedly since Sandy struck New York Oct. 29 that he was unhappy with utility companies’ progress in restoring power to the 2.1 million customers that were in the dark at the storm’s peak. Now, about 28,500 customers are still without power, mostly on Long Island.

Cuomo said Monday that 98 percent to 99 percent of customers have had power restored, but some areas on Long Island and the Rockaways in Queens will need to be rebuilt before they can receive power.

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Consolidated Edison, a power delivery company in New York City and Westchester County, said in a statement Tuesday that it looks forward to working with the commission.

“As always, we work to continuously improve our service to customers,” the company said. “We will continue to work with all parties to review new technology and infrastructure options that would benefit New Yorkers.”

A spokesman from Orange & Rockland, which delivers power in those counties, said the company would defer to the statement released by Con Ed, its parent company. There was no immediate comment from NYSEG and Central Hudson Gas & Electric.

The commission will have the power to subpoena and examine witnesses under oath. Cuomo used the gubernatorial power derived from the Moreland Act last year when he appointed then-Inspector General Ellen Biben, rather than a commission, to investigate the Nassau County police crime lab.

It will include the following members: Co-Chair Robert Abrams, former attorney general; Co-Chair Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the Department of Financial Services; Peter Bradford, former chair of the Public Service Commission; Tony Collins, president of Clarkson University; John Dyson, former chairman of the New York Power Authority; Rev. Floyd Flake, senior pastor of Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in Queens; Mark Green, former New York City Public Advocate; Joanie Mahoney, Onondaga County Executive; Kathleen Rice, Nassau County District Attorney; and Dan Tishman, vice chairman at AECOM Technology Corporation and chairman and CEO of Tishman Construction Corporation.